Down the Rabbit Hole with Frank Beddor

Frank Beddor kindly took some time to chat with Killer Film about his novels the Looking Glass Wars, a series that reworks Alice in Wonderland in radical new directions, as does his graphic novels of Hatter M. Beddor is also a producer, having produced the hit There’s Something About Mary. Recently, he pitched the plot idea to Ridley Scott on Monopoly, a live-action version of the mega popular board game. Come with Killer Film as we don’t want to be late for a very important chat with Frank Beddor on Looking Glass Wars, Monopoly, and all things Alice in Wonderland!

Jon: Fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has been widely vocal about his criticisms of Lewis Carroll’s story, and if I’m not mistaken, you original disliked the books too. What led you into your own interpretation of the stories in Looking Glass Wars?

Frank Beddor: Hmm, I didn’t know that. He’s critical of a lot of things, that guy, isn’t he? My grandmother’s name was Alice, and it was her favorite book, so I had to read it has a young boy. I thought it was incredibly boring and didn’t like it. I often tell people that my Looking Glass Wars books are my revenge, that hopefully, boys and girls will read.

A decade ago, I was in London for a movie I produced and I had an hour to kill, so I went to the British Museum and they had this exhibit of cards, and one incomplete deck of cards, had “Art” written on it. These cards reminded me somehow of Lewis Carroll’s books; they’re dark and imaginative. I began to be curious on these cards that lead me to an antiquity dealer who told me this amazing story and that all inspired my Looking Glass Wars.

Jon: I’ve read that adapting the Looking Glass Wars series and Hatter M into a film version is in a wait and see mode, depending on how Burton’s version does. Is it still in limbo and why has it, with countless other versions already made, in that mode?

Frank Beddor: Well, it’s not really in limbo and here’s the thing: I have a script for the Looking Glass Wars and I’m working with the producer, Charles Roven, of The Dark Knight. It’s not that it’s in limbo, the pause button has been pushed because my stories need a big director that can express and put down on film a vision best to describe the books. Since now of us have seen Tim Burton’s version yet, we don’t want to trend of his territory he might have created.

From everyone I’ve been talking too are curious to see what Tim has done, and that will help us in what direction we want to go in. For instance, Hatter M is lost in our world for 13 years lost, searching for a way back. He’s an action hero in our world that would bring us back into the Looking Glass Wars. So that’s an idea. Yes, Tim’s movie is using some of the same source material, it requires us to know what it is, first and foremost, to see what he has created. But even if I started today Jon, it’s a year of pre-production, a year of filming, eight months of post, so you are talking three to four years before it hits theaters in between his, that zeitgeist of Alice is with us. In a way, it’s a sort of awakening that might be a good thing.

Jon: You said nobody in your camp has seen Burton’s film yet, but what are your expectations?

Frank Beddor: That’s a good question. I read the L.A. Times review earlier, which was very mixed. Positive about the look, and negative about the characters. It wouldn’t shock me if I had the similar reaction to this as I did his Willy Wonka film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that was a visual smörgåsbord of delights, but distance from the characters. I should hold judgment until I see it, as I have enjoyed most of Burton’s work. I’m really anxious to check it out, though.

Jon: With all of the film and animated versions of Alice in Wonderland made, in your opinion, what makes for a good translation of Carroll’s stories, and what has been the better adaptations?

Frank Beddor: Here’s the problem, and though there hasn’t been that many, when compared to Sherlock Holmes, like 80 Holmes and like 20 for Alice. The one I liked was the 1933 version (here) from Paramount Pictures, with W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle, and Gary Cooper as the White Knight , and not that’s it’s a great film, it’s just such an amazing cast, that it stands out. The problem has been the lead is very passive and the stories are very episodic. That’s not a language that translate well to film. What Tim Burton has done is he made it a sequel. He’s done exactly what I did. He’s taken Alice from being 6-7 years old and had her return as an adult, giving her a quest. He knew as did the screenwriter, Linda Woolverton had to have that driving narrative. That’s the reason why there hasn’t been a lot and why they’re not successful. The Disney animated version kind of was successful, because they tried it, and it’s deeply rooted in pop culture. It’s everywhere.

Jon: Why has Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland been more popular to adapt than Carroll’s sequels?

Frank Beddor: Because the first one never worked, and I bet they won’t do a sequel to the Burton film either .They just haven’t worked, so you need a successful first one, before you do the sequels. There was the miniseries with Whoopie Goldberg, and the SyFy Channel’s Alice that didn’t work, so there’s no need to do Lewis’ sequels. If the first one wasn’t so episodic, you would see more versions. It just hasn’t happened.

Jon: The Cheshire Cat has been one of the more popular characters in the story along side the Mad Hatter. Both characters have made the rare leap into pop culture, from music to comics to our daily talk. Why has these two characters made that leap? Is it the philosophical or mathematical subtext to the characters or something else?

Frank Beddor: Depending on your point-of-view, you can look at the books as a whimsical fantasy or horror story that has this insanity going on. I think people identify with the dream and nightmare stage that is involved with losing one’s senses and control. People look around and see how chaotic the real world is and just identify with the characters, riffing off of them to make their point. There are so many artists that after 150 years, built upon what the characters represent, like a short-hand. Remember the Hatter wasn’t the Mad Hatter, he was the Hatter of the Mad Tea Party, I think that people see what they want to see.

Jon: How or where did the “Mad” come from, since he’s commonly referred to as the Mad Hatter?

Frank Beddor: Yeah, I don’t know, maybe it’s just the mutation of pop culture. That’s a good question. I wonder who started it, or when.

Jon: I know that in the 1940′s, DC Comics had a Batman villain called the Mad Hatter (first appearance Batman #48, October 1948), basing it off of Lewis Carroll’s creation. But he never was as popular as The Joker or The Riddler, so it is curious.

Frank Beddor: Boy, that’s still years after after Carroll published the first book, so it had a lot of time to find its way into culture even before that. It makes for a good trivia question to figure out.

Jon: In your opinion, what has been the undying appeal of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland all these years for fans, filmmakers, and authors?

Frank Beddor: Well, I think there’s so many dimensions to it. You could be interested in the parody or satire of it, the riddles, the nonsense, the Freudian elements like dreams versus nightmares, there’s just so much to read into, so it becomes a platform to jump off into different ideas. Some people think it’s all comedic, some insanity, horror, and it’s a lot of different things wrapped up into one. Like The Bible and Shakespeare, it’s not going anywhere and will be around a long time.

Jon: Finally, one of last year’s hottest film topics was that Ridley Scott was to direct Monopoly based off an idea you pitched. What’s the latest?

Frank Beddor: We are waiting for a script. Ridley needs a really compelling script. They have a big expensive writer on it, so I don’t have anything new on it, other than I hope he’s writing a really great script. It’s a high priority for Hasbro, obviously, and there’s a lot of skeptics out there, but even I was a skeptic when Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean so I got a lot of flake for it, but I thought it was a lot of fun. Even I built upon Carroll’s original ideas, so I thought I’ll just find my own rabbit hole to send Will Ferrell or whatever comedian you like to Monopoly City to fight the evil Parker Brothers, so we’ll see if Ridley steps up and make it.

It seems like his newest movie, Robin Hood, is another version of Gladiator. I don’t know, we’ll see. Ridley told me when he was growing up he had these epic battles with his family with Monopoly, so it’s interesting because everybody has there own versions of the game, you have to find a way to make it accessible for everybody. That’s what I know.

You can learn more about Frank Beddor’s series here at the official site for Looking Glass Wars as they are in bookstores now. Look for the Hatter M graphic novels in comic shops, as well. Feel free to leave comments!